Lesbian Romance Novel Reviews

Just Enough Light by A.J. Quinn

If you ask me if I like action adventure book my answer could vacillate between a yes or a no on any given day. I think what holds me back is that when you throw in a romantic element something has to give. Usually I find there be too much back story or too much adventure and not enough dialogue. It is very hard to fit in a quality romance in my opinion.

In Just Enough Light by A.J. Quinn your main character is a strikingly beautiful badass with a tortured past. Kellen Ryan is the woman you want to find you if you are trapped in a perilous situation. She is a master at rugged terrain and will not hesitate to risk life or limb to get the job done. Her career is one that few can do, mountain search and rescue. Life has been far from kind to Kellen, abused by her parents, a child runaway, and now a serial killer is hunting her.

Dr. Dana Kingston is a Harvard educated emergency room physician. Dana ups and leaves her life in Boston behind to avoid having to deal with her parents expectations and domineering personalities. Moving to the middle of nowhere Colorado is a chance for Dana to start fresh and stand her ground. The opportunity to practice the type of medicine she wants is the perfect opportunity to move across the country..

What really turned me off on this book, is the number of issues Kellen has. With every turn of a page there is a new trauma for Kellen to overcome, both emotionally and physically, but then you also a deranged serial killer on the loose. I feel like when there is too much going on you lose the story and it becomes ridiculously far-fetched. In my personal opinion, this book has way too much conflict. It seemed that every chapter had a new ordeal for Kellen to overcome. From my perspective as the reader, it became maddening. I could not invest any one issue, and some are horribly painful to read, because it was on to the next life altering moment. While the writing is done well, the relationship between the characters is lacking and I felt no chemistry between the Kellen and Dana.

A.J. Quinn is a good writer, there is no doubt about this. Unfortunately to me, this particular novel had way too much going on. The concept was cool, I loved the search and rescue idea, I really just thought the whole serial killer shooting was implausible and ridiculous. I would have loved for the focus to be on Keller overcoming her past while developing her relationship with Dana. That in itself was enough to fill a book.